Bangladesh’s January 7 general election had many of the trappings of a democratic poll — thousands of candidates, scores of vote monitoring organizations, large rallies, a swarming press pack, and even catchy campaign tunes. More important was what the vote lacked: any semblance of competition and the participation of most voters. Opposition forces led by … Read more
As Bangladesh prepares for its 2024 elections, a familiar but chilling specter haunts the political landscape: the potential misuse of social media, which has reshaped the landscape since the 2018 parliamentary election. The stakes are high. More than 50 million Bangladeshis, more than half the population, are on social media, particularly young people who constitute … Read more
Bangladesh, one of Asia’s most promising cases of growth under democracy, will head to the polls on January 7. The country has become a test case for electoral democracy, with the election marked by descriptions of being “staged” and a “farce” even before the actual voting begins. With tens of thousands of opposition leaders and … Read more
Beyond the Indus returns in the new year with an election special series – The Road to ‘24 – that analyses the dynamic, colorful, and chaotic elections taking place across South Asia this year. For our first election, we take a look at Bangladesh, where the incumbent, Sheikh Hasina, presides over an increasingly authoritarian government … Read more
Magazine The 2024 election is a matter of political survival for both the ruling Awami League and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Smoke rises from flames near the stage set for a protest by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Oct. 28, 2023. Credit: AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu On November 16, the Election Commission … Read more
On May 24, the U.S. government announced that it “would impose visa restrictions on individuals and their immediate family members, if they are responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.” The announcement is the latest in a string of moves by the U.S. to press Bangladesh’s Awami League (AL) government … Read more
Bangladesh will vote in parliamentary elections on January 7. However, the election is far from inclusive, as around one-third of the country’s 44 registered political parties will not be participating. Several opposition parties have called for a boycott of the election since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina refused to heed their demand to hold elections under … Read more
On November 10, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told a press conference in New Delhi that India “respects the democratic process in Bangladesh.” “When it comes to developments in Bangladesh, elections in Bangladesh, it is their domestic matter. It is for the people of Bangladesh to decide their future,” Kwatra said, describing India “as a … Read more
Advertisement Within foreign policy, domestic variables play a vital role. We have seen this in Bangladesh-India relations before. A mural in the new Indian Parliament building that was termed by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister as depicting “Akhand Bharat” (Undivided India) caused Bangladesh’s government to ask for an explanation from India’s Ministry of External … Read more
Advertisement Bangladesh is heading into a tumultuous election season. The country is scheduled to vote in general elections in January 2024. Elections in 2014 and 2018 were controversial and Bangladeshis as well as their country’s foreign friends are keenly observing events and guessing what lies ahead. In this article, I put forward three scenarios based … Read more